Irish Flower
by Karen Weasley
Summary: Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. Draco and Constance have been together for over a year, but when Seamus gets it into his head that he wants that to change, will they be able to hold their relationship together?


**This challenge was to take a pair you enjoy and break them up using a character chosen for you. My pairing was Draco/OC, and my relationship crasher was Seamus. My optional prompts: Every cloud has a silver lining, "There's nothing good about goodnight when it means goodbye."-Jeff Thomas, and Clouds. I hope you enjoy!**

_**Goodnight and Goodbye**_

Draco growled and pounded his fist against the hard wood of the vanishing cabinet as it once again refused to work. Although he had been working on it all year, no one would know based on progress; the cabinet still stubbornly refused to allow anything to survive the passage between it and its twin. He was running out of time, and the pressure on him to succeed was higher than ever. It was lucky, he mused, that he had one place to go where that pressure seemed to fade away.

"And I'm late again, damn!" Draco swore as he glanced down at his watch. "She'll kill me if she has any sense."

He hurried to replace the cover on the cabinet and pull his cloak back on before leaving the Room of Requirement and setting off at a brisk pace for the grounds. Despite security being tighter than ever, Draco always found a way to get what he wanted, and he wanted to be able to be alone with his girl without the risk of being spotted.

As was typical with any Slytherin, Draco moved silently and gracefully through the halls all the while keeping one eye open for prefects and the other open for that meddlesome cat, Mrs. Norris. Thankfully without incident, Draco reached the Great Hall and carefully slid through the double doors and into the calming night air.

He set off at a brisk pace across the grounds while still taking time to breathe in the fresh air and thank the clouds for obscuring the moon. As he neared the lake, he saw a female figure standing beside a tree…_their_ tree: she was already there, as he had expected.

"Constance…" he began, but she raised a hand to silence him without even turning around. He moved to stand beside her and followed her gaze to the forest.

After a moment, she turned to face him with a soft smile on her face. "I love the sounds the forest makes at night," she said in her gentle Irish burr. "No one ever really takes the time to listen, do they?"

"No one but you," Draco smirked. "That's one of the reasons I like calling you mine: you're unique."

"And I know how you love being the owner of unique things," she teased as she slid her arms around his neck. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming again."

"Are you angry with me?" he asked quietly.

She laughed and pulled him closer. "No, and I never am. I know you're busy with all your advanced classes."

Draco pulled her into a hug and rested his chin on her head. Of all the lies he told on a daily basis, the only ones he ever felt remotely sorry for were the ones he told his Constance. But how could he tell her the truth?

Constance Flynn was the cousin of Seamus Finnegan: notorious Gryffindor that could literally blow anything up. She, however, was a Ravenclaw and more brilliant than Hermione Granger…well, in Draco's opinion anyway. Her blood was as pure as his, and she was more beautiful than any woman he had ever known.

They had met during the Quidditch World Cup when Draco's father had struck up a business conversation with her father. The Flynns had just moved to England, and Constance would be joining Draco at Hogwarts for her fourth year. The two became fast friends, much to their parents' delight, and had ended up dating before the beginning of their fifth year. While his parents had no problems with Constance, Draco could not bring himself to admit to her what he had become.

Perhaps it was because her family had remained in neutral Ireland during the first war with Voldemort and still refused to choose sides, or perhaps it was because Draco didn't want her worrying, but if he was honest with himself (which he rarely was) it would be because he was embarrassed of what he had become while she was so good.

"Is there something bothering you, Draco?" she asked, breaking into his thoughts.

"What?" he said as he tried to reorient himself in the present.

"You got quiet there for a moment, and I thought something was wrong with you," she explained with a look of genuine concern on her face. "Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine," Draco lied smoothly. "I just got distracted for a moment."

"By what?" Constance asked.

Draco smiled and ran a hand through her rich auburn hair. "By you, of course. I keep forgetting how beautiful you are, and it renders me speechless from time to time."

"Well aren't you the smooth talker?" Constance laughed as she blushed in the starlight. Suddenly she looked up and gasped in delight. "Oh look, Draco, you can see the clouds now!"

"Why are you always so obsessed with the clouds?" he asked as she settled herself on the grass to stare into the sky.

"I'm looking for the silver lining of course," she replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You do know that's just an expression, right?" Draco laughed as he watched her eyes eagerly scan the night sky. "There's no real silver lining on every cloud; it's just a metaphor."

Constance chuckled and shook her head. "Oh Draco…"

"What?" Draco asked, slightly offended by her tone.

"Darling, it isn't just a metaphor," she explained, turning her eyes to his face. "Every cloud has a silver lining. If you believe it's just a metaphor, you'll assume it's always there and not look for it."

"I don't follow you at all," Draco admitted, crossing his arms and leaning against the tree.

Constance sighed. "When you say every cloud has a silver lining thinking it's a metaphor, you just wait until it makes itself obvious, right?" Draco nodded. "Well, if you take it literally, you'll go looking for the silver lining, and you'll always find it whether or not it's obvious. Do you understand?"

Draco gaped at her. It never ceased to amaze him how her strange logic would somehow end up making sense. "You've got me again, Constance," he admitted with a laugh. "I don't know how you come up with this stuff, but you always end up making sense to me."

"That's just because you love me, and you try to understand," Constance smiled. "Most people just say I'm crazy."

"Well aren't you?" Draco teased with his smirk back in place.

"I am," Constance agreed. "Crazy in love with you."

Draco shook his head; he didn't do well with sappy vocal displays of affection. Instead, he sat down on the grass and pulled Constance to sit between his legs. Without uttering a single word, he tilted her face up to his and kissed her as the clouds once again obscured the stars and moon.

Seamus slammed his fist into his pillow as he spied his cousin locking lips with her boyfriend. "What's up Seamus?" Dean asked, glancing up from his charms book.

"Constance is with Malfoy again," Seamus snarled. "I don't know how many times I've told her to get away from him, but she refuses to listen."

"Maybe she just doesn't know there are better options out there," Dean suggested.

Seamus spun on his bed to look at his best friend. "What are you talking about?"

Dean shrugged. "Ever since Ginny and I split, I've noticed how pretty your cousin is, that's all. I'd go out with her."

Seamus thought for a moment. "I'd rather have you go out with her than him," he finally admitted. "I trust you, and you'd take care of her."

"You know I would, mate," Dean assured him. "But she's still with Malfoy."

"Leave that to me," Seamus said. "I'll take care of that problem."

"Morning Constance," Seamus smiled as he sat down beside his cousin in the library.

"Good morning Seamus," she replied. "And to what do I owe this visit?"

"Am I not allowed to just come see you?" Seamus laughed.

"Oh you are, but you never do," Constance pointed out. "All you do is lecture me about my boyfriend, so let's have it. Why is Draco bad for me now?"

Seamus sighed. "I just wanted to tell you that Dean and I were talking last night. You like Dean, don't you?"

"Of course I do; he's your closest friend," Constance said as she flicked through a potions text.

"Well, he told me something quite interesting," Seamus continued, closely observing her reaction. "He said he'd like to go out with you sometime."

Constance sighed and looked up at her cousin. "So that's your plan, is it? You're trying to show me there are so-called 'better options' out there for me. Well it won't work, Seamus. I love Draco, and I'm not leaving him. You can tell Dean I'm sorry, but he should know better than to ask out a woman with a boyfriend." With that, she stood up, collected her study materials, and left Seamus sitting at the table alone.

"Well that worked well," Dean said sarcastically when Seamus recounted his story later that day. "So much for 'taking care of it', mate."

"I'm working on it, ok?" Seamus growled. "She's just as stubborn as me mam."

"It would be so much easier if Malfoy was just cheating on her," Dean sighed.

Seamus suddenly froze, and his eyes went wide. "That's it!" he cried. "All we have to do is show Constance that he's cheating on her!"

"But…he isn't," Dean pointed out.

"That doesn't matter," Seamus waved a hand. "Harry won't stop talking about how he disappears all the time into the Room of Requirement, and since no one knows what he's really doing, saying that he's with another woman won't be too far of a stretch."

"I don't know, Seamus," Dean said hesitantly. "Constance isn't an idiot; you're gonna have to have some proof other than your word."

Seamus grinned. "Oh I don't need proof," he said with a smirk. "All I have to do is psych her into believing I'm right, and that's not hard. Then all you have to do is be there to comfort her when they break up, and she's yours."

The next night was supposed to be another meeting by the tree. Seamus wrote a note, faking his cousin's handwriting, and slid it into Draco's bag during potions that told him she couldn't make their meeting that night. He then slid another note into Pansy Parkinson's bag during charms that was in Draco's handwriting, telling her to meet him in the Room of Requirement that night. The only one not to receive a note was Constance; it was crucial to Seamus's plan that she be sitting outside and waiting for Draco.

That night, Constance was indeed sitting outside by the tree waiting for Draco, but it was Seamus instead that came to join her. "Constance," he said, mustering all his acting skills.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, jumping up and whirling around.

"I came to tell you…wow this is hard…I came to tell you that you should probably go inside. I don't think Malfoy's coming."

"Why should I believe you?" she asked, getting angry now. "You could've set this up to cause problems between us; I know you don't want us together!"

Seamus raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying that I saw Pansy Parkinson going into the Room of Requirement around the same time Malfoy does usually. I'm just saying it's a possibility…"

"That what? That he's cheating on me with that cow?" Constance seethed. "I don't believe you, Seamus."

"Well…think about it," Seamus prodded. "Has he been late for your meetings lately?"

"So what if he has?"

"Does he say he loves you ever?" Seamus pressed.

"What does that matter either?" Constance argued, but Seamus could see she was beginning to doubt her own arguments.

"Those are just some signs that he's with someone else," Seamus shrugged. "He has been acting kind of strange all year, don't you think?"

"He's busy with advanced classes and stressed because of them," Constance said, but her voice faltered.

"Why would he have advanced classes in the Room of Requirement?" Seamus asked. "I hate to say it, Constance, but I think he's been lying to you all year."

"NO!" Constance yelled. "I don't…I _won't_ believe you!" She stormed away from him and back towards the castle.

Seamus grinned as he watched her walk away. With any luck, she'd run into Malfoy and Parkinson, and it would all be over.

Constance stormed up towards Ravenclaw tower, furious with her cousin, and furious with herself for even the slightest bit of belief in his words. Draco would never cheat on her! She rounded the corner to the seventh floor, near to the Room of Requirement, and the sound of voices made her freeze.

"Just get out of here Pansy!" It was Draco.

"What, just in case your pathetic girlfriend comes by?" Pansy Parkinson spat. "I'm tired of you always talking about her. You should be with me!"

"Just leave already, will you?" Draco growled. "The last thing I need is for her to see us together, so just go back downstairs, and we can talk about this later."

Pansy huffed but vacated the hallway.

Constance felt tears pricking at her eyes. Seamus hadn't been lying after all! The conversation she had just overheard was proof. With anger and pain in her gut, she stepped into the hall and cleared her throat pointedly. Draco whirled around and paled when he saw her.

"C-Constance," he stuttered. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I was just on my way back to Ravenclaw tower when I heard you and your mistress having a bit of a row," she hissed. "I can't believe you, Draco Malfoy!"

"Constance, please let me explain!" Draco said hurriedly. "I swear it wasn't what it sounded like."

"I've had enough of your smooth talk," Constance snapped. "It's obvious you lied to me! You've been seeing her behind my back all year, haven't you?"

"No of course not!" Draco cried. "I wouldn't dream of cheating on you, especially with her!"

Constance scoffed. "Why should I believe you? You've been increasingly late to our meetings, and you never say 'I love you' anymore. Look, I hate to do this, but you've left me no choice."

"Please Constance," Draco begged. "Don't do this!"

"I can't be with you when I know you've cheated on me. Goodnight Draco…and goodbye." With that, Constance turned on her heel and ran in the other direction: the long way back to Ravenclaw tower.

Draco stood for a moment, staring after her. "There's nothing good about goodnight when it means goodbye," he whispered to himself before he felt tears begin to fall down his cheeks.


End file.
